South African minister tackles the World Cup football barons
Hetty ter Haar
Nick Kotch in Johannesburg
Sunday October 7, 2007
Observer
South Africa's Finance Minister, Trevor Manuel, has become the
unlikely hero of millions of football fans for sending a warning shot
over the 'greedy' bows of the country's soccer barons ahead of the
2010 World Cup.
Manuel warned the men in charge of the Premier Soccer League (PSL)
that there would be zero tolerance of any who used the tournament to
personally profit from lucrative sponsorship deals. Absa, the Barclays-
owned bank, has just signed a deal worth £36m with the PSL for the
next five years, covering the World Cup, which will be hosted by South
Africa
Manuel fired off an unprecedented open letter to Absa, congratulating
chief executive Steve Booysen, but saying he was 'completely shocked'
to learn the bank would pay £3.6m to the five men on the PSL
negotiating committee that awarded the contract. It is led by Irvin
'Iron Duke' Khoza, millionaire owner of the Orlando Pirates team and
chair of the 2010 organising committee. 'Making such an irregular
payment is wrong, morally reprehensible and corrupt,' Manuel wrote.
South Africa's football bosses, like many elsewhere, are used to
running the game untroubled by the sports ministry, ordinary
supporters or even the most basic precepts of corporate governance.
But Manuel's letter was an unexpected tackle from behind that floored
both Absa and the PSL.
Absa responded with a flurry of assurances that it had never discussed
or considered paying commission to those around the negotiating table.
'Absa supports the minister's commitment to good corporate governance
and shares his belief that sports administrators should not be
enriched by sports sponsorships,' a spokesman said.
'Absa assured the minister, and he is satisfied by the assurances,
Absa would do everything in its power to ensure that none of the 500m
rand would be paid to individuals,' Manuel's spokeswoman said.
But the media and the public were delighted. 'Manuel has raised what
many sports fans in South Africa have known for a long time: our
soccer is run by a bunch of money-grubbing, self-serving wretches,'
columnist Archie Henderson thundered.
The row came weeks after the same PSL team struck a £108m deal for
broadcast rights with SuperSport, the South African pay-TV company.
Aides of the Finance Minister said he was prompted to speak out after
reports that a chunk of the SuperSport deal was also earmarked for
negotiators' accounts.
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